Best Open-World Games with Intricate Mysteries to Solve

Many of the best-designed open-world games are packed full of secrets to uncover, as players gradually explore their expansive settings and unravel the many mysteries hidden within. Whether it’s an outright detective game with crimes to solve, important characters with mysterious backstories, or simply an enigmatic location waiting to be discovered, there are some fascinating mystery-filled worlds available on the market.

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Those who have a thirst for conundrums and enjoy the freedom of discovering an open world are spoiled for choice with some of the best games ever made. Anybody wishing to crack some perplexing puzzles and find out the truth in some intriguing situations should play these open-world games with intricate mysteries waiting to be solved.

8

Paradise Killer

Solve A Murder Case On Paradise Island

Among the best whodunits ever made, Paradise Killer features everything from aliens and alternative realities to brutal mass murders. Containing one of the best and most creative stories in video games, players take the role of the exiled Lady Love Dies, a detective who is the only one capable of discovering the truth behind the sinister plot on Paradise Island 24.

Lady Love Dies can bring the accused to trial at any time, but it’s generally more effective to explore the 24th iteration of the island to gather as much evidence as possible and talk to everyone who may have valuable information to share. There is much more to this mystery than the mass murder of the entire Syndicate Council, but anyone who takes it on can expect plenty of humor and quirkiness.

7

The Sinking City

Staying Sane While Oakmont Is Flooding

Set during the 1920s in Oakmont, Massachusetts, The Sinking City puts players in the role of private investigator, Charles W. Reed, as he gradually loses his sanity and the city becomes submerged during unprecedented flooding. Inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, there are plenty of otherworldly and terrifying creatures that plague the inhabitants of this struggling metropolis.

At times, it’s hard to tell the difference between reality and hallucination as Reed battles to manage his mental health and investigates the various goings-on in each of the city’s districts. These areas can be traversed in many ways, and there are multiple approaches to cases, meaning that players can replay the game several times to achieve different results.

6

L.A. Noire

Solve Cases And Uncover A Wider Conspiracy

While working his way through the various bureaus of the police department in post-war Los Angeles, Cole Phelps tackles many head-scratching cases. Not only are there the main story missions in L.A. Noire, where Phelps investigates everything from burglaries and arson to brutal murders, but a wider conspiracy is gradually uncovered involving many powerful individuals in the city.

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Over a decade since its initial launch, L.A. Noire is still one of the most intriguing worlds to explore, and investigating crime scenes can make players feel like real detectives. Interrogation scenes can sometimes be a bit ridiculous for those with more modern graphical sensibilities, but they were revolutionary for the time, and the wider mysteries of the game are still compelling today.

5

The Forgotten City

Figure Out What Is A Sin

Starting life as a mod for Skyrim, The Forgotten City was massively overhauled and fleshed out into a fully-fledged game on its own. This is one of those games where no two playthroughs are the same. Players are repeatedly sent back in time to the year 65CE in a cursed Roman city, where they must speak to its inhabitants and prevent the city’s demise.

The “Golden Rule” dictates that if one citizen commits a sin, then the entire population turns to gold as a punishment. The definition of sin is somewhat ambiguous, however, with each character having conflicting opinions on the matter, so it’s up to the player to try different actions and witness the results as they learn more and more information. These details unlock new opportunities and outcomes in future loops.

4

Outer Wilds

Explore A Solar System Before It Is Destroyed

Every 22 minutes in Outer Wilds, the star at the center of the freely explorable solar system goes supernova and destroys everything, restarting the 22-minute time loop again. In each run, the player must visit the various planets, interact with their inhabitants, and discover alien ruins, any of which may hold the secrets behind this endlessly repeating phenomenon.

The planets are constantly changing over each 22-minute cycle, meaning that players will need to visit and revisit certain locations in different runs beforeor after specific events occur, helping to discover invaluable information (the only carry-over from cycle to cycle). Staying alive is itself something of a challenge, since oxygen is a limited resource, space is full of volatile locations, and miscalculations of trajectory can see the spaceship fly off into the abyss.

3

Subnautica

Discover The Cause Of An Alien Civilization’s Demise

After crash landing on an oceanic planet, Ryley Robinson must survive and thrive alone on the enigmatic planet 4546B. While exploring this underwater world in Subnautica, Ryley discovers remnants of an advanced alien civilization and the existence of a mysterious disease called Kharaa, with which he is now infected.

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The mysteries and solutions are gradually uncovered by venturing out further into the deep to discover more information, but with close attention being given to survival. Naturally, oxygen and sources of nutrition are a major concern, so building a secure base and gathering resources is crucial, but there are also plenty of terrifying sea creatures to either avoid or eliminate with appropriate weaponry.

2

Horizon Zero Dawn

Who Is Aloy, And What Caused The Downfall Of Humanity?

Featuring an expansive open world where each region has its own cultural identity, Horizon Zero Dawn contains many intricate mysteries waiting to be unraveled. Set in the 31st century in North America, humanity lives in fragmented tribes across the ruins of the old world, which is heavily populated by massive and dangerous animal-like machines.

The protagonist, Aloy, is something of an enigma herself, being an orphan with no real understanding of her origins. Her backstory, along with what brought the world to this point, are the two main mysteries to figure out while surviving and exploring this fragmented and tribalistic world. The deep lore and satisfying combat make the Horizon series a must-play for any fans of interesting scifi stories — don’t skip the audio logs in this one!

1

Disco Elysium

Investigating A Murder As An Amnesiac Detective

Disco Elysium begins with player-character Harry du Bois waking up with drug and alcohol-induced amnesia. Playing more like a tabletop RPG than a traditional role-playing game, Harry and his colleague Kim Kitsuragi are detectives tasked with solving a murder in the world of Elysium, which has over 6000 years of complicated history.

Gameplay consists of skill checks rather than traditional weapons-based combat, and players are free to take it on in their own way with 24 completely unique skills to develop and plenty of options in the “Thought Cabinet.” There are six possible endings, depending on the choices made in various interactions, but either way, its many conundrums and layers of complexity are sure to stick with even the most hard-boiled aspiring detectives long after reaching the credits.

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